[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. King, Mr. Crapo, Mr. 
        Merkley, and Ms. Collins):
  S. 1614. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition 
of ``renewable biomass'' under the renewable fuel program; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, Oregonians have a strong interest in using 
biomass as a source of renewable fuels. This desire, coupled with how 
well we grow biomass in Oregon, creates the opportunity to use 
carefully selected wood waste as a source for cleaner transportation 
fuel. If we do it right, this effort will lead to healthier forests, 
more carbon sequestration, cleaner transportation fuels as compared to 
traditional gasolines, and protected old growth forests.
  Current law excludes the use of federal biomass in the making of 
renewable fuels as defined by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The 
bill being introduced today eliminates that exclusion.
  In addition to being an energy matter, this is an important forest 
management issue. Over many decades there has been an unnatural buildup 
of woody material on the forest floor. It becomes fuel for catastrophic 
wildfires. For months, each summer, Oregonians in every corner of the 
state, from Astoria to Adel and from Medford to Madras, suffer from 
smokey skies, hazardous air quality, and the almost constant threat 
that a wildfire may burn down their homes. In the eastern portion of 
the state, invasive species like juniper trees pose challenges, on both 
private and public lands--lowering water tables, posing fire risks, and 
encroaching on sage grouse habitat. It is time we stopped putting our 
heads in the sand, hoping the environmental ship will right itself.
  Instead, this excess woody biomass should be contributing to U.S. 
energy independence by being converted to transportation or electricity 
fuels. This bill makes that economically feasible. It would make it 
more cost efficient for private landowners to remove low-value brush, 
like juniper. The bill also helps pay for programs to reduce dead and 
dying trees that fuel catastrophic wildfires and helps thin out 
unhealthy second-growth forests. The bill ensures that all residuals 
from the milling process and certain biomass from national forests and 
BLM forests qualify for the RFS standards.
  Importantly, under this new definition biomass materials harvested 
from federal lands must be done so in accordance with all federal laws, 
regulations, and land-use plans and designations. In addition, the bill 
pays specific attention to biomass removal from insect and disease 
ridden forests and wildfire prone areas. And, to ensure environmental 
problems are being solved, not created, the bill restricts the types of 
biomass materials that can be harvested from federal lands so that old 
growth trees and stands will continue to be protected.
  At the end of the day, the small diameter trees, the limbs, the 
debris, even sawdust at the mill presents real opportunities to 
generate green energy, generate green jobs, lower wildfire risks in 
rural areas across the country, and better position the United States 
to meet the RFS.
  There is a lot of bipartisan support for the biomass definition in 
this bill. It balances sound energy policy with sound environmental 
policy.
  I want to thank my colleagues Senators Risch, King, Crapo, and 
Merkley for joining me on this important bill.
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